U.S. Troops advance through snow to meet Nazi thrust.

U.S. Troops advance through snow to meet Nazi thrust. A long column of American reinforcement troops march down a snow-covered road in Germany toward the front lines to strike back at the German offensive begin December 16, 1944 and desribed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander-in-chief, Allied Expeditionary Force, as the eme,y's supreme effort to break out of a desperate plight. Supreme Headquarters announced December 23 that a German armored column had reached the area of Marche and cut the Marche-Hotton road. Hotton is 26 miles due south of Liege in the River Ourthe, and Marche, six miles south-west of Hotton, is 38 miles west of the German-Luxembourg border. A the weather cleared on December 23, more than 4,000 Allied bombers and fighters blasted the Germans in and behind the battle area. Major aerial battles developed as the Luftwaffe came up in strength. 178 Nazi planes were shot down, with 22 more probably shot down, 29 damaged, and nine more destroyed on the ground. The same day American ground forces cut into the lower flank of the German penetration due north of Luxembourg at Mersch.